Change is inevitable and universal. Whether you’re moving countries, going through a breakup, experiencing a restructure at work, or living with grief, one thing is for certain: making big leaps can be daunting and anxiety-inducing if we aren’t ready to face them. However, it’s also important to recognise that change can also be huge opportunity to bring positivity into our lives, alongside hope, new experiences, and personal growth. In this episode, we are joined by change leadership expert Anne Bonney, who will share with us how we can embrace the discomfort of change and push through towards bigger and brighter opportunities.
Anne Bonney is a two-time author and host of the hit podcast Dancing in the Discomfort Zone, to help overwhelmed professionals build resilience in the discomfort of change. After 20 years of crushing it in corporate and nonprofit leadership positions, she now uses her hard-earned experience in the workplace and fiery passion to help leaders tackle tough conversations, and lead with emotional intelligence.
In this episode, we dive deep into answering the following thorny questions.
0:00 - Intro
01:55 - Anne’s journey to becoming a champion for change
03:15 - Why do we find change uncomfortable?
04:00 - How do we override our risk-adverseness to change
05:25 - How do you develop confidence to try something new
07:45 - How do you shift from a pessimistic to an optimistic mindset
10:55 - How to use gratitude as a tool for working through our discomfort to change
12:40 - What are the 4 pillars to becoming mentally tough
14:55 - What are the common characteristics of resilient people
17:30 - How do you work through the sunk cost fallacy
19:35 - What is the 3 step process to manage change when it happens to you rather than when you initiated it
25:03 - Why is it important to be careful who you ask help from
26:25 - How do you make life decisions that is not overly influenced by social pressures
28:55 - What’s your advice for HR or managers to help employees cope with a restructure
30:50 - What did Anne learn as an early employee at Under Armour during a period of massive change
33:50 - How do you build trust with your employees before a change in the workplace happens
36:05 - What are tips for leaders to provide constructive feedback that employees can be receptive to rather than feeling defensive about
39:20 - How do leaders build employee trust when there is a low trust environment
42:00 - How can our communication styles unwittingly lose an employee’s trust
45:25 - What is authentic and open communication
46:35 - How do you manage employee expectations without creating false hope
49:50 - How being vulnerable builds employee trust in an environment of uncertainty
52:25 - How do you support those who’s mental health are more likely to be negatively impacted to change
54:24 - What is the definition of an emotionally intelligent leader
57:10 - How to develop self-awareness on whether you are risk adverse to change
58:25 - What is Anne’s one wellbeing practice
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